Orange Coast College

Swimming: PIRATES RULE THE POOL, REPEAT AS STATE CHAMPS!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

FREMONT - There was plenty of state championship hardware to go around, but the duo of Joe Krone and Damien Bernard got flat-out greedy this weekend as they led the Pirates to another team state championship at the California Community College Athletic Association State Swimming and Diving Championships at Ohlone College.

Krone and Bernard finished with a two individual state titles each and Bernard helped OCC to a state crown in the 200-yard medley as the Pirates finished with 601 points. Ventura was second overall with 530 points, while Diablo Valley (333) finished third.

On Saturday, Krone won the gold in the 200 backstroke with a winning time of 1 minute, 52.47 seconds. The freshman standout took the early lead in the race and clocked the fastest three splits along the way to hold off runner-up Chasen Nick of Diablo Valley (1:54.69). Fellow OCC teammate Adam Jones finished third with a time of 1:57.13.

On Friday, Krone (pictured right) used a blistering opening 50 yards to pick up his first individual title, winning the 100 back with a time of 51.21. Krone busted out of the gates and hit the halfway point at 24.68, .55 seconds ahead of eventual runner-up Nikos Kostianis of Cerritos. Jones finished fourth with a time of 53.65.

Bernard, who won the 200 individual medley on Thursday, came through in the 100 breaststroke with a state championship time of 57.3 seconds, ahead of Chaffey's Akbar Nasution (57.37) and Sierra's Andy Perez (58.14).

Also taking up the gold was the men's 200 medley relay foursome of Adam Jones, Bernard, Josh Knight and Greg Hulse, who topped the field with a winning time of 1:33.79 on Friday.

There was also plenty of titles to go around on the diving board as the Pirates won two individual crowns on Friday. In the men's 1-meter diving, Pirate sophomore Justin Taylor was named Co-Diver of the Year with his first-place score of 418.35, ahead of Jordan Pollack of the College of the Sequoias (404.80).

Other top-eight finishes for the men over the past two days include Jimmy Cule in the 1,650 free (15:53.05) and 200 free 97th, 1:45.23), Hulse in the 100 free (6th, 46.47), Elden Carpenter in the 200 breaststroke (7th, 2:12.61) and 400 IM (7th, 4:17.28), Josh Knight (2nd, 1:52.33) and Bernard (4th, 1:52.86) in the 200 butterfly, the 400 free relay (2nd, 3:05.24), Knight in the 100 butterfly (4th, 50.46), Zach Duehring in the 100 breaststroke (6th, 59.61) and the 800 free relay (3rd, 7:03.94).

On the women's side, the Pirates finished fourth overall with 298 points, behind state champion Diablo Valley (443), Sierra (336.5) and Santa Rosa (325.5).

State Diver of the Year Nikki Burrelli dominated the competition and won the women's 3-meter diving event with a score of 389.85, over 13 points ahead of runner-up Tiffanie Wright of L.A. Valley (376.60).

Other top-eight performances from the past two days include Hailey Barker in the 100 free (8th, 55.5) and the 200 free (6th, 1:58.79), the 400 free relay (3rd, 3:42.55), the 200 medley relay (2nd, 1:54.4), Ashlee Gray in the 50 breaststroke (5th, 32.26), Natasha Bustard in the 50 backstroke (4th, 29.01) and the women's 800 free relay (5th, 8:10.23).

Diving coach Bryan Franzen was named the State Diving Coach of the Year, while head men's coach Anthony Iacopetti was named the Swimming Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.